The Oscar and Golden Globe nominee looks back on filming both movies simultaneously and being thrown into scenes that she and costar Ariana Grande sometimes weren’t prepared for.

Cynthia Erivo on her rewarding but taxing Wicked shoot: ‘What else can I put myself through?’

The Oscar and Golden Globe nominee looks back on filming both movies simultaneously and being thrown into scenes that she and costar Ariana Grande sometimes weren't prepared for.

By Gerrad Hall

Gerrad Hall is an editorial director at **, overseeing movie, awards, and music coverage. He is also host of *The Awardist* podcast, and has cohosted EW's live Oscars, Emmys, SAG, and Grammys red carpet shows. He has appeared on *Good Morning America*, *The Talk*, *Access Hollywood*, *Extra!*, and other talk shows, delivering the latest news on pop culture and entertainment.

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December 19, 2025 2:36 p.m. ET

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Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in 'Wicked: For Good'. Credit:

Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

Cynthia Erivo has done action, and she's done plenty of singing (and dancing) on stage — for *The Color Purple* alone, she appeared in some 450 Broadway performances.

But combining action and stunts, *and* singing? In hindsight, the *Wicked: For Good* Golden Globe nominee admits she wasn't fully prepared for everything she'd have to do physically during the production of the two Wicked movies.

"I think some of my life prepared me for it, but really and truly, no," she says on the latest episode of *The Awardist* podcast. "I think I had to start honing in my preparation for this film when I knew that I was going to play this role. Stunt work is one thing, wire work is another. I had never been in wires. I had never been in a harness like that before. I didn't know what it felt like to be in the air moving, let alone singing. And so to learn how to sing whilst in the wires moving was a completely foreign experience, idea. And my body had to get used to it, and so did my voice. I've been singing my whole entire life, and yes, I've put the work in and I'm familiar with my voice, but I'm not familiar with my voice when my feet aren't on the ground."

Cynthia Erivo flies as Elphaba in 'Wicked: For Good'.

Erivo — an Emmy, Grammy, and Tony winner — says playing Elphaba required using "everything in her toolbox and then pick up some more tools."

"It's been definitely a learning curve for me. It makes you want to do anything, that's for sure. I think it says if I have the capacity to learn something like that, then I must have the capacity to learn much more," she says. "So I think I'm eager to do more. I don't know if that makes me a glutton for punishment, but I think I'm sort of eager to see what comes next. What else can I put myself through? What else can I learn?"

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And because both movies were filming at the same time, Erivo and costar Ariana Grande might be filming something for part 1 in the morning, but something for For Good in the evening. Or, as was the case one day, weather prevented them from filming outside, so their unexpected backup plan? Inside to film the emotional closing number, "For Good."

"Both of us were like, *okay, that's what we're doing*. And actually, there's sort of a beauty in having to discover in the moment that that's where you have to be," she says, because Elphaba and Glinda also**"weren't ready. So it's about using the thing that you're given in that moment and finding a way for it to serve you. And that's what we did. We realized that we were going to be put in this position right now, and we needed to access the emotion."

Erivo says she and Grande each had different ways to get into the scene. "I like quiet and solitude in order to focus in, and she would need contact or just a moment of connectivity before we could begin," Erivo explains. "I think knowing that having no prep time meant that we could be influenced by the elements in the best possible way."

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in 'Wicked: For Good'.

Universal Pictures

***Check out more from EW's *The Awardist*, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year's best in TV, movies, and more.***

Listen to Erivo's full episode of *The Awardist* below, where she also discusses the importance of Elphaba's new song "No Place Like Home," what she made of people dubbing Elphaba's gray sweater the "sex cardigan" and what the piece of wardrobe really meant to her, the character she'd love to see explored more if other movies are ever made in the Wicked universe, and more.

And elsewhere on the episode, EW's awards experts analyze some of the Oscar shortlists, and we remember filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner, who died tragically over the weekend.**

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